Jabong’s plan for expansion: Acquire companies!

That Amazon has eyes on Jabong is old news now. If latest news on the ecommerce block is true, Jabong is now actually on the lookout for companies that fit into its scheme of growth.

“E-commerce is fast evolving and we are looking at opportunities to buy out companies which are synergistic and can fit into our line of business. Today, we are also open to forming strategic alliances to help in speedy deliveries,’’ said Praveen Sinha, Founder & Managing Director, Jabong.

Does Jabong need Amazon to survive?

Following the Flipkart-Myntra merger, the industry was rife with speculations of more mergers and acquisitions. When news of a possible acquisition of Jabong by Amazon broke, it caused a stir and raised questions of who else is on the line.

But Jabong now claims to have the capacity to hold out on its own as it is now under the Global Fashion Group (GFG), through which it can reach out to more markets across the world. Through GFG, five international fashion ecommerce firms were grouped that had common investors like Rocket Internet (from Germany) and Kinnevik (Sweden based investment firm).

“We may not be part of a bigger e-commerce player but since we have a common set of investors through the formation of GFG, our products can now reach out to new markets in South East Asia, Russia and West Asia. Today, funding is not a challenge, it is about having the right products and faster delivery which is a key unique selling proposition,’’ said Sinha.

Jabong’s tryst with celebrities

Undoubtedly, fashion is the hottest product category in the Indian ecommerce space. With fierce competition, the assortment mix is the key differentiator that will make Jabong stand out.

Over the past few months, Jabong has roped in celebrities like Alia Bhatt and Rohit Bal to associate with it, thus capturing the attention of fashion-conscious consumers. “Alia Bhatt has been designing exclusively for us for the past 6-8 months with her own team. Going forward we will rope in more film stars to design exclusively for us,’’ added Sinha.

Although Jabong is not the first to have celebrities associated with a portal, Jabong believes it can be on top of a consumer’s recall list due to the steep discounts it offers, especially compared to a physical store. But like everyone else, pricing is an issue for Jabong too.

“Pricing is a difficult and complex thing today. Taxes like VAT and sales tax, which were initially not passed on to consumers, have now been included in the MRP but we have to charge extra for delivery,’’ he added.